Network discovery can include collecting data about devices that exist on a network. Each device may require a large amount of data to fully describe the device, and discovery of certain information may be necessary before discovering further information, making a multi-stage discovery process desirable. Information related to the network, devices within the network, and relationships between the devices may be stored in a configuration management database (CMDB), and records containing data for the devices, software, and relationships are defined herein to be configuration items (CIs).